Don't worry, I'm older than I look.

Zia married Lele.

She asked me if I could believe it. I met Zia the same week she met Lele, (although I didn’t meet him until much later) and two years later, to the day, she was marrying him.

They have a large family wedding coming up in Boston, but for various reasons, it was much easier to be legally wed in their home state of California. Lele was under the impression that they would simply be going to the courthouse some times this week, but Zia …….. well, she sort of owed him a surprise. Lele’s proposal to her involved her leaving her house thinking they were going for sushi, and ending up in the middle of a Guatemalan lake, looking for a shaman. Really I’ll let her tell it.

So Zia planned a surprise wedding. The tuxedo tshirt was bought, the hot air balloon hired, and Lele’s friend Crazy Ray* agreed to come as the witness. I went through the shocking simple process (in this state anyway) of becoming certified to marry people to each other.

*(With a name like Crazy Ray, I assumed he sold mattresses, or maybe used cars, for a living. Turns out he’s some sort of UFC fighter, with a neck so large we couldn’t get a bow tie around it.)

I got up Sat morning, pre-ass-crack-of-dawn, (no, really, three thirty am) and drove a hour and a half into a local wine growing area to meet the rest of the wedding party. You might be wondering, if I donned a clerical collar, the apparel of God’s annointed servants, wouldn’t I be struck down by lightning? Well, on the drive up, a meteor passed mere yards from my car. Clearly it was a warning shot, across the deck. I think He was trying to say he understood this time, but ONLY BARELY.

Lele had just been formally invited to his own wedding, via an invitation handed to him by Zia, in the car. He’d been attempting to guess what had her wake him up so early for, and as close as he got was Renaissance Fair.

He was really touched. He had felt a courthouse wedding would feel “anti-climatic” for he and Zia.

Since he was now in on it, I could reveal my clerical collar. Slowly. To a beat. I am a full service minister, folks.

Zia gave me the perfect finishing touch, a tiny tophat. I love the tiny tophat. I don’t know how I ever existed without a tiny tophat before. If you asked if I’m wearing it right now the answer would be …….. well, no, but I wish I was.

The sunrise ride was truly lovely, and I didn’t flub any of my lines. The cake, lovingly crafted by Sam, was delicious. I’ll let the pictures tell the story, because I think they paint a better picture than my words of how adorable they are, and how magical it was to be a part of this with them.

I love their love! It’s so wonderful! I wish I had known you when I got married, I would have totally had you marry me! In fact, I can not think of a better idea than of you starting your own marrying business, for people who want magical and not traditional. You could do traditional too, I suppose, but I see you more in a hot air balloon with a Crazy Ray and tophat. Also, in a canoe with flippers and/or in an elevator with monkies.